The present invention generally relates to firearms, and more particularly to a magazine disconnect mechanism for autoloading pistols that disable the pistol's discharge capability when the magazine removed.
In autoloading pistols utilizing removable cartridge magazines, a cartridge may still remain chambered after the magazine has been removed. Although the loaded chamber condition of a pistol's chamber is customarily and most positively checked by user opening the action and visually observing the presence of a cartridge therein, prior devices are known that attempt to augment this procedure by alternatively disabling the trigger assembly so that the pistol cannot be discharged when the magazine is removed. The trigger assembly typically includes a trigger, a trigger bar, a hammer which contacts a firing pin that strikes a chambered cartridge, and a sear which holds the hammer in a cocked ready-to-fire position. One approach used in a known magazine disconnect devices has been to arrest movement of the trigger linkage connected to the hammer. For example, when the magazine is removed in one known device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,669 to Spaniel et al., an open-topped slot in the trigger bar receives and engages a downwardly spring-loaded lug to block the trigger bar and trigger connected thereto from being moved in response to an attempted trigger pull. When the magazine is reinserted in the pistol, the lug is contacted and displaced upwards by the magazine to disengage the lug from the slot.
The foregoing trigger assembly disabling devices can be circumvented by the user in certain instances. For example, it may be possible to defeat the lug and trigger bar slot device by partially pulling the trigger before fully withdrawing the magazine. This would cause the trigger bar to move slightly forward, so that the lug would not be aligned with and seat in the trigger bar slot when the magazine is subsequently completely removed. The trigger could then be fully pulled and a cartridge if remaining in the chamber may be discharged. In addition, parts in these type devices such as the slot, lug, and often long and circuitous biasing springs are prone to wear and breakage which may render these magazine disconnects ineffective.
Accordingly, there is a further need for a magazine disconnect mechanism that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior devices and disables the pistol's discharge capability when the magazine is removed.